David M. Lawrence

TUESday, August 2, 2011

Multimedia presentation: Drugstore soda fountains

The major assignment of Dr. Tim Bajkiewicz's Multiplatform storytelling class is a neighborhood story: a journalistic work that incorporates a mix of static text and photography with video, audio, and other mixed media components. The requirements included two video pieces, two audio pieces, a Google Maps presentation and a Vuvox presentation.

My story focused on drugstore soda fountains. While they have all but disappeared from the American landscape, Mechanicsville features two, at Mechanicsville Drug Store adn Colonial Pharmacy. I wanted to find out why, so I interviewed the owners, workers, and patrons of both establishments.

Below is a media player featuring audio from interviews with Roger Carroll and Howard Townsend, regulars at Mechancisville Drug's soda fountain.

NOTE: The original ActionScript code activated the media player automatically—a feature I dislike on most Web pages. I modified the code to disable the autoplay feature, but for reasons I cannot understand, the "Play" button will not start the initial playback. Try hitting the "Fast Forward," "Play Next," or "Play Previous" buttons instead and all will subsequently work as it should.